RICE CRACKERS —
chapter seven
"And that's all you're getting?" Shinsou asked when he saw the single pack of rice crackers that Korei was carrying. He raised an eyebrow at her after she nodded and handed it to him. He had offered to pay for the snacks, and her arguments were futile. "Saito," his tone was wary. She said she was hungry! He took the crackers from her, tucking them into his arm alongside his packs of gummies and sweet cakes. He turned away from her, quickly grabbing two more packs of rice crackers before walking towards the cashier.
"Shinsou! I don't want to make you spend all your money on me!" She pouted, following after him. "One pack is more than enough for me." She added, her hand gently tugging on his shirt sleeve. "Let me put the other ones back?"
"Hell no. You earned that shit, and even if you hadn't ran today, you still should get the fucking crackers. It's all you've been eating for the past three days—" he dropped the items down onto the counter, aggressively grabbing some more snacks that sat on the shelves below. "—and you think I haven't noticed? I thought maybe you just weren't hungry, but you are. It's not good to do that to yourself." He looked down at her quickly before staring at the cashier. "How much?"
"It's really not anything bad. My Gran just told me that I should start losing weight so I just decided to go on a diet. The rice crackers are kosher and they're also really low in calories. I didn't realize that it was upsetting you." Her voice was quiet once again, eyes trained on Shinsou's shoes as she waited for him to pay. He seemed so...hurt by what she had been doing. Sure, it wasn't easy to go to bed hungry but the poor girl just wanted to look good. She didn't feel like she looked good.
"Of course it's upsetting me, you're—" his words were cut off as he grabbed the two plastic bags of snacks. His head fogged up and he realized he couldn't just tell her it was upsetting him because he liked her. "—you're my friend, Saito." He shrugged, motioning for her to follow him out of the store. They started walking down the sidewalk in the direction of Shinsou's apartment building. The houses they passed looked really nice, but Korei didn't bother to observe them that much. She had seen them before during physical training. "I don't want you to think you aren't good enough because you're a bit heavier than most people. You're perfect as you are and you shouldn't attempt to change that unless you, not your grandmother or some fucking idiot at school, you want to change that."
"Oh, uh..." she fiddled with the hem of her t-shirt, blushing because her crush had just told her that she was perfect. "Well, th-thanks, Shinsou-kun. You're very sweet."
He wanted to tell her that it was only because of her that he was sweet. No one else mattered that much to him. Since the moment he met her, he knew she was the best thing to happen to him. She's the only good thing about this world. "Yeah," his voice was soft now, gaze trained on their path ahead. They had a bit of a walk before they'd be near his apartment complex, but he enjoyed her company.
"Shinsou-kun," she mumbled out, hesitantly linking her arm through his. Shinsou felt his breath catch in his throat, his ears turning bright red from the interaction. Sure, he could say lewd things to her and not be bothered because words were just words, but actions made this boy's whole body tingle. When she touched him, it was like bombs were going off inside of him. "Will we still be friends when you transfer to the hero course?"
He had spent multiple nights thinking about that same question. What was going to happen to them when he transferred? Would she still spend time with him? Would he think he was better than her? He wasn't sure what was going to happen...he just hoped she was there.
"I...hope," he whispered, subconsciously pulling her closer to his side. Korei bit her cheek, stomach fluttering at his words. "You keep me motivated. I appreciate you."
"I appreciate you as well," she hummed, leaning her head against his shoulder as they continued walking. It was quiet and serene, leaving Korei to think about what it was that was bothering her inside. A loud gasp left her lips as she realized she needed to call her grandmother still. Hopefully, she didn't get upset.
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